Journalists face rising legal, psychological and personal costs in the fight for a free press.
Lawyers and journalists discuss legal attacks on the free press at the Committee to Protect Journalists headquarters in New York City.
NEW YORK — The legal warfare unleashed on journalists across the world in systematic efforts to silence their voices was discussed by human rights lawyers and media professionals on World Press Freedom Day. Along with significant financial and personal costs to mounting a legal defense, reporters — and even their families — are burdened by psychological threats such as surveillance, prosecution, arbitrary detention, disinformation campaigns and cyberattacks, as well as slander.
José Zamora, son of the jailed Guatemalan journalist and media entrepreneur José Rubén Zamora, shared the wide range of allegations that have circulated about his family including calling them communists, questioning their sexual orientation and fake news about how George Soros owns Zamora’s newspapers.
Experts have termed this as a “multifront warfare approach,” designed to isolate journalists. It begins with targeting the journalists followed by attacks on their families, advocates and the outlets they work for. “This approach is employed by the state to undercut the trust in the journalists and make them pariahs in their social settings,” said Dr. Julie Posetti, deputy vice president for global research, International Center for Journalists. “The goal is to diminish them within their communities and audience.”
The case of Matthew Galizia, son of the murdered Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, captures the emotional and psychological toll the experts allude to. Before Galizia’s death, she was named in 46 lawsuits. Since Malta allows posthumous defamation suits, Matthew, as a part of her estate, provides information about his mother’s work and her reporting sources to the state, while also appearing for court hearings.
Examples of social media campaigns run by the Committee to Protect Journalists and families of journalists to demand the release of imprisoned journalists. Photo by Nishtha Yadav.
Similarly, the Hong Kong government has targeted the family of media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai who is serving a prison sentence for organizing protests. Human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC has represented journalists across the globe and is the legal representative for Lai. She described the backlash his family received after their March appearance at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Jimmy’s son, Sebastien Lai, shared a two-sentence statement asking for his father to be released. In return, the Hong Kong authority released an aggressive statement stating that Sebastien and the legal team are committing offenses including obstructing justice and committing a conspiracy,” she said.
Once journalists, especially those outside the United States, are accused of criminal activity by the state, their foreign movements can become impeded. “I have to be careful where I travel because of the work I do,” said Rodney Sieh, Liberian journalist and author, who was sentenced to 5,000 years in jail as his reporting criticized the government. He served three months in prison before he was released. “The foreign governments just need to Google me and it’ll show that I’m a criminal,” Sieh said concerning his movements abroad. “I still pay the price of the charges against me. My crime was that I spoke up to power.”
